Thread: Toro E-Z Vac = E-Z CRAP!!!

Anyone else have the "new" blower/bagging system for their Toro Z? The E-Z Vac is absolute garbage. Please, please, please bring back the vertical blower system. This new blower system is a total waste if there is even 1% moisture on the grass. The past few days I've had heavy dew and found out the true ability of this blower...please give me my money back!!! Dear Toro...not everyone lives down south where temps are always near 80 and the grass is almost always dry. I've NEVER had a bagging system clog so fast and the blower IS NOT very user friendly to unclog. The older vertical system was a gem in moist grass and when it did clog...easy to clean and clear the clog. Oh...and the hard shell tube...HATE IT TOO! Stick with the flex tube...easy to see debris in, easy to unclog, no latches to undo to remove, and no screws holding it together that will eventually wear bigger holes in the tube and eventually not stay together!!!

Anyone else have the "new" blower/bagging system for their Toro Z? The E-Z Vac is absolute garbage. Please, please, please bring back the vertical blower system. This new blower system is a total waste if there is even 1% moisture on the grass. The past few days I've had heavy dew and found out the true ability of this blower...please give me my money back!!! Dear Toro...not everyone lives down south where temps are always near 80 and the grass is almost always dry. I've NEVER had a bagging system clog so fast and the blower IS NOT very user friendly to unclog. The older vertical system was a gem in moist grass and when it did clog...easy to clean and clear the clog. Oh...and the hard shell tube...HATE IT TOO! Stick with the flex tube...easy to see debris in, easy to unclog, no latches to undo to remove, and no screws holding it together that will eventually wear bigger holes in the tube and eventually not stay together!!!

Hehe, that''s funny. Down south it's horribly humid. The heat just makes it miserable, not dry, unless it hasn't rained in a while. And we'd love it to be "near 80". This summer it was over 90 all but a handful of days this summer. The saving grace is that cool season varieties here don't grow fast in summer due to the higher temps, so it's true there isn't a summertime problem with clogging grass on dry days. And the stuff that does grow rapidly here in summer (Atlanta) is mowed so short (1.5" or less) the clippings aren't too terrible a problem relative to taller varieties where more is cut off.

You do have to wonder why they keep changing proven designs trying to make tiny incremental "improvements" that in some cases just cause the machines to cost more, weigh more, and have a whole new series of teething troubles.

Every time a design is redone, it requires thousands of hours of engineering time, massive retooling, new factory layouts, etc. All that is added to the price. A proven design has already covered those costs and new units can be sold cheaper.

Then there is a 1-2 year period before buyers know if the new machines work well or not. So early adapters become unwitting beta testers.

Also, most of these manufacturers build and design for northern turf. Their factories are up there, their permanent test beds, etc. They may drive a trailer full of mowers down south to cut some grass, but I can tell by the designs that most have no practical knowledge of the grass types we have here. Or they just don't care to specially design models for us.

When you wonder why a collection system costs $2000, it could be because it's the 100th version of it in the last decade. You can buy a cheap mowing machine with several times more steel, an actual engine, a seat, a starter, electronics, pulleys, belts, etc for less than an impeller housing, a plastic chute, a tiny belt, two pulleys, and some mesh bags.

Go check their parts catalogs. Look up the baggers and you will see dozens of model numbers. We wind up paying for their inability to design a good design and stick with it.